Free Republic

Ukrainian troops are suffering massive losses as they are outgunned 20 to one in artillery and 40 to one in ammunition by Russian forces, according to new intelligence painting a bleak picture of the conflict on the frontline.For the first time since the war began, there is now concern over desertion. The report, seen by The Independent, says the worsening situation in the Donbas, with up to a hundred soldiers being killed a day, is having “a seriously demoralising effect on Ukrainian forces as well as a very real material effect; cases of desertion are growing every week”.

Two Muslim Paris police officers have had their weapons taken away from them, with one suspended from duty, after allegations that the pair may have been radicalised. The first officer, a 39-year-old, was ordered to surrender his firearm on Thursday and suspended by the police force as a “precautionary principle”. According to his colleagues, the officer had married a Muslim lawyer in 2011 and began to grow his beard, pray at work and show other signs of religiosity, Le Parisien reports. In 2018, an investigation into the officer was done by the General Inspectorate of the National Police and the...

Police in Europe seek boost in firepower to respond against terroristsTargeted and outgunned by homegrown terrorists, cops throughout Europe are demanding a serious boost in firepower. In France, police say the Jan. 7 massacre at the Charlie Hebdo magazine office showed cops lack the firepower, protective gear and training to guard against terrorists packing high-powered assault weapons. Police in Belgium and Britain also want a boost in firepower.

Fallujah, Iraq-AP -- Some members of Iraqi security forces working alongside Marines in Fallujah (fuh-LOO'-juh) say they resent fighting fellow Iraqis. And they also say they're being outgunned by Sunni insurgents. One member of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps says 80 percent of them want to leave Fallujah, and go to Baghdad. Some of the I-C-D-C forces stationed in Fallujah before the fighting have abandoned their posts -- and U-S commanders acknowledged that some may be joining the insurgents. Army Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt says members of the 36th Battalion, made up of 240 soldiers helping enforce the Marine cordon...

U.S., allies would win war: Number of casualties, fierceness of fighting are in question WASHINGTON - If it comes to war between the United States and Iraq, there is no doubt about the final outcome: The United States will win. What is in doubt, however, is the number of casualties and fierceness of the fight. "The United States and coalition partners would win any future war to overthrow Saddam Hussein in a rapid and decisive fashion," writes Michael O'Hanlon, a military analyst at the Brookings Institution think-tank. "This would not be another Vietnam or another Korea. But casualties could be...